Returning to shark-infested waters a quarter-century after Deep Blue Sea became a cable TV-turned-streaming mainstay, Renny Harlin’s Deep Water feels born from another era, for better or worse. With an ensemble stocked with cardboard yet earnestly crafted archetypes and thrills tightly doled out in simple, roller-coaster structure fashion, this airplane-disaster-meets-shark-thriller could be slotted into a late-night TV lineup and, perhaps outside of its too-clean digital sheen, be mistaken for a rediscovered relic from another time. This back-to-basics homage to disaster pictures of the 1970s has a modest charm, elevated by Harlin’s brisk direction, even if there is little that makes a lasting impression.
Since Steven Spielberg touched down in Martha’s Vineyard, no filmmaker has brought much in the way of reinvention to the shark thriller. In his second time taking a crack, Harlin is fully aware of playing the greatest hits of the subgenre. A full act before we see any fins, however, we’re introduced to the few dozen characters boarding their fateful journey, and no cliché goes untapped. There’s the hero pilot haunted by family and career issues (Aaron Eckhart), accompanied by the elder, stubborn captain (Ben Kingsley); families who get separated; quarreling passengers that must learn to survive together; unlikely romantic connections; aging passengers who are forced to make a sacrifice; and, of course, the asshole (Angus Sampson) we root to get chomped up. Every line foreshadows what is to come and every quip is delivered with a winky nod. It’s the kind of script where it’s puzzling that it took five minds to piece together (Pete Bridges, Shayne Armstrong, S.P. Krause, and Damien Power, with additional writing by John Kim), hinting more at behind-the-scenes development complications than any extra effort needed to layer in an ounce of originality or complexity.
Despite these conventions, which carry through to Fernando Velázquez’s heavy-handed score as mournful piano notes play during times of intended emotional heft, Harlin packs a much-needed punch in his fleet-footed direction. As projectiles fly through the plane upon catastrophe, the director doesn’t hold back in wiping out some 90% of the plane’s 257 passengers as heads are smashed and bodies crushed or sucked into the air, though it may be a better way to go than what awaits in the water. Essentially packing two movies into one, Deep Water is overstuffed with enough characters in the ensemble to nimbly crosscut through various action set pieces. As the plane crashes and is neatly split into three sections across the water, editor Geoff Lamb (proving his horror bona fides in cutting Talk to Me and Bring Her Back) makes a meal in ensuring each sequence hits its crescendo before propulsively jumping to the next group in peril. It’s an approach that ensures no viewer is impatiently twiddling their thumbs, even though it does a disservice in connecting much to any one character.
The kind of almost-passable summer programmer to kick off the season and barely be remembered come Memorial Day, Deep Water brings little new to the table. But if you’re looking to have a few jump scares and raise your pulse, some base pleasures will be found. After a few years in the cinematic desert with The Strangers sequels and little-seen genre endeavors, Renny Harlin’s latest feels like an adequate homecoming.
Deep Water opens in theaters on Friday, May 1.
The post Deep Water Review: Renny Harlin Goes Back to Basics in Airplane Disaster Movie Meets Shark Thriller first appeared on The Film Stage.
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